WASHINGTON (AP) — President Joe Biden is wielding his weapon of last resort in the nation’s fight against COVID-19. Biden is promoting vaccination requirements across the country in an effort to force the roughly 67 million unvaccinated American adults to roll up their sleeves. It’s a tactic Biden never wanted to employ. But it’s one…
IOWA CITY, Iowa (AP) — A growing number of school districts in the U.S. are using federal pandemic funding on athletics projects. One school district in Iowa is spending $100,000 on a weight room renovation, while another in Wisconsin is spending $1.6 million on new synthetic turf fields. School officials argue the projects support students’…
JAKARTA, Indonesia (AP) — A Chicago woman convicted of assisting her boyfriend in her mother’s murder and stuffing the body in a suitcase on Indonesia’s resort island of Bali in 2014 is being released early from a 10-year prison sentence. A prison official confirmed that Heather Mack, who was 18 when she was arrested a…
NEW YORK (AP) — The six-hour outage of Facebook, Instagram and Whatsapp on Monday was a headache for many casual users. But the outage was far more serious for many people worldwide who rely on the social media sites to communicate with relatives, friends and neighbors and run their businesses. It’s a stark reminder that…
WASHINGTON (AP) — A former Facebook data scientist has stunned lawmakers and the public with revelations of the company’s awareness of apparent harm to some teens from Instagram and her accusations of dishonesty in its fight against hate and misinformation. Now she is coming before Congress. Frances Haugen has come forward with a wide-ranging condemnation…
NEW YORK (AP) — Teachers and other school staff members are supposed to be vaccinated against COVID-19 when the bell rings Monday morning for New York City’s sprawling school system. Mayor Bill de Blasio has warned that unvaccinated school staffers will not be allowed to work Monday. De Blasio said 90% of Department of Education…
SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico (AP) — Not a single hurricane has hit Puerto Rico this year, but hundreds of thousands of people in the U.S. territory feel like they’re living in the aftermath of a major storm: Students do homework by the light of dying cellphones. People who depend on insulin or respiratory therapies struggle…
ST. LOUIS (AP) — Former conservative Republican U.S. Rep. Todd Akin of Missouri has died. Akin’s son, Perry, says in a statement that his father died late Sunday at age 74 from cancer. Akin’s comment in 2012 that women’s bodies have a way of avoiding pregnancies in cases of “legitimate rape” sunk his bid for…
MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — A decline in COVID-19 cases across the United States over the past several weeks has given overwhelmed hospitals some relief. But administrators are bracing for yet another possible surge as cold weather drives people indoors. Health experts say the fourth wave of the pandemic has peaked overall in the U.S., particularly in…
WASHINGTON (AP) — Democrats are back at it, determined to rescue a scaled back version of President Joe Biden’s $3.5 trillion government overhaul and salvage a related public works bill. Friday’s action resumed after a long night of frantic negotiations with no deal. Speaker Nancy Pelosi met privately with lawmakers in the morning at the…